The present invention relates generally to a footwear, and more particulary to a footwear structure enabling the footwear to have a variety of interchangeable insoles, pads, or instep straps.
There are a variety of footwears available in the market place today for the consumers to choose from. In order to enhance the marketability of the footwears, the footwear makers stress the design versatility to catch the fancy of the consumer at large. The case in point is the slipper. The Taiwan Patent No. 85114375 discloses a method for making the slipper, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The method involves the formation of a shoe board 1 by foaming. The shoe board 1 is provided with a plurality of assembling blocks 2, with each having a bevel tooth 21. A vamp strap 3 is provided at both longitudinal ends thereof with a strap piece 31 which is provided with a retaining tooth 32. The vamp strap 3 is fastened to the shoe board 1 such that the retaining tooth 32 of the strap piece 31 is retained by the bevel tooth 21 of the assembling block 2. In other words, the vamp strap 3 is fixedly fastened with the shoe board 1 such that the vamp strap 3 can not be replaced by another vamp strap of a different design or pattern.
The Taiwan Patent No. 87217978 discloses a structure of a do-it-yourself shoe, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. The structure comprises a shoe board 1 which is formed by foaming and is provided with a plurality of retaining blocks 4, with each having a serrated retaining piece 41. The structure further comprises a vamp strap 5 which is provided at both longitudinal ends with a strap piece 51 having a toothed portion 52. The vamp strap 5 is detachably fastened to the shoe board 1 such that the retaining piece 41 of the retaining blocks 4 is engaged with the toothed portion 52 of the strap piece 51. In light of the vamp strap 5 being detachably fastened with the shoe board 1, the vamp strap 5 can be removed from the shoe board 1 by means of a separation piece 6, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The retaining piece 41 is separated from the toothed portion 52 by the separation piece 6, thereby enabling the vamp strap 5 to be separated from the shoe board 1. This prior art shoe structure has shortcomings. In the first place, the detachment of the vamp strap 5 from the shoe board 1 is attained with assistance of the separation piece 6 which is apt to be lost or misplaced. In addition, the retaining piece 41 is susceptible to deformation which is caused by friction between the retaining piece 41 and the separation piece 6. It is readily apparent that a deformed retaining piece 41 is useless. Moreover, the retaining blocks 4 of the shoe board 1 are not compatible with the vamp straps of other specifications, thereby limiting the design versatility of the prior art shoe structure.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a shoe structure which is free of the drawbacks of the prior art shoe structures described above.
In keeping with the principle of the present invention, the foregoing objective of the present invention is attained by the shoe structure comprising an outsole which is provided in the interior with a plurality of receiving spaces to accommodate a plurality of retaining blocks, with each having a position confining portion curving slightly outward to have a convex surface. The outsole is provided with an insole which is fastened to the upper surface of the outsole and is provided with a plurality of cuts for exposing the retaining blocks of the outsole. The shoe structure further comprises one or more instep straps, with each having a retaining piece. The insole is provided with a shoe pad which is fastened to the upper surface of the insole. The instep straps are fastened with the outsole by means of the retaining piece which is detachably engaged with the retaining blocks of the outsole. A variety of instep straps can be therefore fastened interchangeably with the outsole, so as to enhance versatility of the shoe structure of the present invention.
In light of the position confining portion of the retaining blocks of the outsole of the present invention being of a convex construction, the retaining piece of the instep strap can be separated from the position confining portion of the retaining blocks with a minimum effort and without the help of a separation tool.
The insole of the present invention can be decorated with the shoe pads of various colors and patterns. The shoe pads are fastened with the insole by the VELCRO device which is also known as the magic tape formed of a surface with tiny hooks and a complementary surface with a clinging pile. The male surface (tiny hooks) and the female surface (clinging pile) can be pressed together or pulled apart for easy fastening and unfastening of the shoe pad with the insole.
The features and the advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.